Into the Tears and Out with a Message
by po0o0o0op
Summary: Through the streets of Columbia, Booker makes way to find Comstock with the help of an angry Elizabeth. Elizabeth is resentful towards Booker for lying to her, in which he tries to convince her to stay, only for the sake of her safety.


**Hey guys! This is my first story on FanFiction! Just so you know, the "disciples" are Comstock's followers.**

**Enjoy :-)**

"Elizabeth, I know I lied. I'm sorry but you aren't safe on these streets. They're looking for you!" Booker reached out for my arm, but I jerked away.

"Don't touch me, Booker! Just leave me alone."

"You don't understand—"

"You don't understand that I can find my own way."

"Yeah, and you think that's going to help you? Creating those Tears? Opening up an alternative world that doesn't exist in this world? We can't escape Columbia."

"Yes, Booker, I know. _We_ can't escape Columbia, but I can."

"I don't think you understand how dangerous this is. I know you can open up a Tear, but how do you suppose you can return back into the real world?"

"I told you already. I can find my own way."

Before he could reach out to me again, I raised my arms. I slowly began to open up a Tear with all my strength. It was a rip in dimensional, time, and space. It was like I was clawing the air, ripping open a new universe.

Suddenly, there was an eerie, screeching noise. I was unfocused and the Tear automatically closed. Booker looked in the sky and grabbed my arm. We ran into the nearest building and took cover. The ground shook and Booker had an apprehensive look.

"Elizabeth, the Songbird is going to—"

"Shh! I hear him."

The Songbird was supposed to be my guardian, yet I feared him so much. If he were to find me, he'd take me back to my tower just like Comstock wanted me to. I couldn't be locked up in the tower anymore. When Booker helped me escape, the Songbird was outraged. This sixty-foot winged, robotic creature was always looking for me like I was his child. In the tower I grew up in, he was always there. I asked him for books, and he would get the books. I asked for a meal, he would give me one. He would keep me company since he was the only one I'd see during those twenty years I was imprisoned. He was my only friend but was Comstock's puppet. Comstock locked me up in there and watched me every single minute. He knew all about me but never confronted me. I never understood why I couldn't leave.

I began to breathe heavily as the Songbird's screams were getting nearer and louder. But there was nothing, no sound. I eased myself and felt somewhat relieved. Suddenly, the Songbird landed on the building and shrieked. The building rumbled and glassware broke onto the floor. Books fell out of bookshelves, and furniture fell over. The Songbird peered through the window looking for any signs of movement. Booker's grip on me tightened, until the Songbird flew away.

Booker stood up and looked out the window, cautiously.

"This is why I can't leave you alone. The Songbird is always nearby. We need to get you out of Columbia. This floating city in the air may have its perks, but it isn't safe."

"I told you I can find my own way. Comstock's Disciples are nothing, and I can fend for myself."

"Elizabeth, I told you, it isn't safe! I can get you out of here. The Disciples won't stop at any cost until Comstock gets his hands on you. Do you understand the expense people went through to keep you locked up in that tower? You think people like that are going to let you walk away? Comstock is their God. He's the God of Columbia, and every single Columbian worships him. They will do anything for him, and they will find you. Look, we can go to Paris or Italy. Anywhere you want to go, but we cannot be here. Comstock has his men all over the city to find you."

"Funny, I thought you wanted to bring me to New York, remember? 'Bring us the girl, wipe away the debt'? You're still a liar _and_ a thug."

Booker was frowning and brushed his brown hair with his hands out of frustration. Before he could say anything back, there were two identical looking people standing in the room. A man and a woman dressed in formal business attire. They looked most likely to be fraternal twins.

"You might want to consider drinking this Vigor," the man said.

I looked at Booker, whose face was completely perplexed.

"How do you—where do you guys keep showing up? Why are you following us?"

The man was holding a red velvet pillow, with a purple glass bottle that lay. The bottle showed a picture of a lightning bolt on it. On top of the bottle was a figure of a man riding a lightning bolt.

The woman replied, "This is the Shock Jockey Vigor. It will allow you to help defend yourselves from those meddling Disciples."

"Right, and if you drink this Vigor, you shall be granted the extraordinary ability of controlling electricity with your hands."

Booker stared at the two for a couple of seconds, and the man extended his arms holding the pillow out to him. Booker looked at me, then back at the two. He slowly reached for the vigor, opened the bottle. A pungent mix of medicine and alcohol hit him in the face as he made a disgusted face.

"Cheers," he said, then drank the whole bottle. Suddenly crystals began to form on his hands and electricity spurted between them, creating an awful noise. It was a neon blue charge of static, and then the crystals were gone. Booker examined his hands with great contemplation, and finally looked up to the two in disbelief.

"Who are you two?" Booker asked.

"We are where we're needed—"

"—and needed where we are." the two replied, finishing each other's sentences.

"That was incredible!" I exclaimed. "I read about Vigors all the time in my books while I was in the tower. I never thought how amazing it would look to transform a person."

"Yeah, pretty amazing," Booker said, examining his hands again. "Where can I get another one of those?" He looked up, but the two had already disappeared.

"What did I expect?" Booker sighed. "I need to find out who those two are."

"I-I think I know." I said. "I just realized who those two are. They invented the technology that allows the city to float."

"Giant balloons?" Booker asked.

"No, with quantum particles. The odd thing is that my books said they disappeared many years ago…So why are they here now?"

"Well, we'll find out ourselves. In the mean time, we need to get out of this building before the Songbird comes back. We'll go back to the airport, get on the airship, and make our way to—"

"I'm not going to New York!" I argued. "I know you have some debt to pay but I'm not going to let you use me to pay it off. You are a liar, and I don't know why you are still here when you should be leaving me alone."

"Elizabeth…" Booker said, walking closer to me.

"Get away! I'm warning you, Booker!"

"I'm not doing this to hurt you in anyway; it's just that we need to leave and you're being incredibly stubborn and the Disciples could be here at any moment." Booker walked toward me talking about how time was running short as I looked around, trying to find the closest thing I could throw with. I picked up a book and threw it at him as he lunged back. I picked up every book on the floor, and threw it at him in anger. Booker was putting his arms up, trying to dodge the books.

"Hey – ow – knock it off! Ugh – will you stop it? Will you stop it?!" Booker yelled, sitting on the floor. I ran out the building as fast as I could. I could hear Booker shouting at me as I continued.

I had my chance to escape, and I took it. I ran away as fast as I could, trying to escape Booker. I was certain that the airship was still in the airport. I was ready to make my way to Paris, and out of Columbia. I knew Booker wanted to deliver me to whomever that wanted me in New York for some "debt," but I couldn't let him do that. I was locked up by Comstock for nearly my whole life, and I wasn't going to let someone make that happen again.

After a few blocks of running, I stopped to rest for a few moments, and then I began to walk, feeling uncomfortable around me. As I walked further, I heard two voices behind.

"We have company." the man said. "We do indeed." the woman replied.

"You two again…Who sent you? Comstock? Why are you following me?" I asked. The twins were sitting on two chairs, playing a game of chess with each other.

The woman replied, "We were already here—"

"—why are you following us?" the man finished. I shook my head and proceeded to walk further. I saw two dark figures ahead, and instantly knew they were Disciples. They started to snicker as they looked at me and I walked faster, looking ahead.

"Hey, you, where do you think you're going?" One of them asked. "Come say hello!" The other continued to laugh, and they began walking toward me. I started to run, and they were hollering behind me, running faster. They caught up, "Hey now, I said _wait_ up!" one of them jerked my arm.

"Get off of me!" I pushed them off and kicked them to the ground. One of the Disciples grabbed my arms behind, and the other got up with an irritated face. When he got a good look at my face, his turned surprised, and I was certain he knew who he found.

"Hey this is the one Comstock is looking for. We found her! It's Eliza—" Suddenly a burst of electricity hit him and he went onto the floor, moving frantically. I managed to push off the other Disciple clutching me onto the floor. I turned around and met Booker's face for a split second and then he began to fight the Disciples. Using his hand, he electrocuted each of them and used his gun to finish them off. When he was finished, he brushed his hands together, and turned to me.

"Now, can we please stick together?" he asked in an impatient tone. Before I could give a smart answer back, I heard an earsplitting screeching noise. It was the Songbird, who was headed straight for Booker. As the Songbird swooped down onto the ground, it snatched Booker, and threw him into a building. I ran as fast as I could into the crumbling building, avoiding broken pieces of glass or pavement, trying to climb up to Booker. When I nearly got there, the Songbird had its claw up, ready to make his metal marks into Booker, who had his hands in the air, groaning.

I leapt in front of him, trying to protect him, but the Songbird pushed me away. Right when the Song bird was about to tear him apart, I shrieked. "I'm sorry!" The Songbird stopped instantly and his enormous, fire red eyes turned to me. "I'm sorry. I never should have left. Take me back. T-take me home." Its eyes turned into a dark green color. "Please." I begged. Within an instant, the Songbird picked me up and flew out of the building. Behind me, I could see Booker running after us, screaming, "Elizabeth!" as Disciples took him away.

The Songbird and I soared through the air, and I could feel my tears being dried through the wind. We didn't fly for long, and I finally saw familiar landscape. We were back at the tower, but we went further ahead. Finally, the Songbird swept down in front of a humongous garden filled with many colorful flowers. I made my way down and nodded to the Songbird, who screeched before he flew away. I looked ahead and saw a gate, and I made my way to it. I slowly opened and noticed a great water fountain. On top of the water fountain, was a statue of an identical looking man and woman, standing side by side, wearing formal business attire. Below the fountain was a labeled stone which read "ROSA AND ROBERT LUTECE," when I heard a voice behind me.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Elizabeth." There, a man in his late thirties with a beard, dressed in a suit with a brown coat. He was sitting on a metal chair.

"Comstock?" I asked. The man got up, walked toward me opening his arms.

"Not even a hello? How I've missed you so! You've been running around all over Columbia, and I haven't seen you in such a long time." I pushed him away instantly.

"That's because y-you locked me up! You kept me in that tower for years. I wanted my chance to explore but, but you had your Disciples after me. Booker set me free, and you sent them after him! You tried to kill him, you tried to kill us! H-how could you do this?"

Comstock put his hands in his pockets and his face was serious for a moment. Then he laughed. "I had to, Elizabeth. You don't belong out here. You were supposed to be my own only. Columbia is not the place for you." He began to walk toward me, and I slowly backed up. "Oh, my poor Elizabeth! How confused and hurt you are! Come here and I will assure you everything is going to be alright."

"N-no, stay away! You are a monster, you had so many people killed. Where's Booker?" Abruptly, Comstock's face turned into an angry frown and he walked further toward me.

"You won't be seeing him anymore." Out of nowhere, Disciples were surrounding me. Comstock gripped me by the arms and sat me down on a cold metal chair. The Disciples strapped me down and I screamed, as they held my head still. Comstock walked toward me, holding a large helmet with blue static coming out of. He stuck the helmet on, injecting something into my head. I screamed as loud as I could. Slowly, I began to forget the events that happened in the past, and everything looked dizzy to me. I was fading in and out of my conscious. Everything was blurry, as I saw men on the floor and electric flying in the air and then I could feel the helmet that was attached to my skin being taken off. It took me awhile for my vision to be clear again, but I still felt nauseous. I saw Booker's figure in front of me, and he was yelling something to me as Disciples were coming behind him. All I could hear were the man and woman's voices again, the Lutece's voices.

"The mind of the subject will continue to struggle to create memories, desperately." A man said. "They will continue to do so desperately, to create these memories where none exist." A woman said.

When I woke up, I was standing in the middle of a pond. Booker was in front of me shouting about something in my face. I wasn't fully aware until he began to shake me.

"Elizabeth! Hey, hey. You alright? Jesus, you scared me. One minute I was talking about how the Lutece twins might find us again to tell us something we could do to find Comstock, and then you open up a Tear and leave without a word. You come back and then you're out of it. I know I don't got the right to tell you not to go through those Tears, but you did say that you don't have enough power to control them. Alternative worlds aren't always safe even if you can see the future sometimes, Elizabeth. Are you alright?"

It felt like just a few hours ago we were with a man and woman, twins, guiding us to Comstock. I slowly looked up at him; his face was filled with concern.

"Booker, are you afraid of God?" I asked. Booker's face eased, but he was still serious.

"No, but I'm afraid of you."


End file.
